Young, wild and free
by campfiresongs
Summary: "So you're saying that if I don't go to college my trust fund gets cut off?" Young and entitled Elena Gilbert finds her life turned upside down when she has to enrol in college to protect her inheritance.


_A/N- I've thought really long and hard about whether to post this. Firstly, if there's one thing I don't have at the moment its time to be writing another story. However, I got this idea in my head after listening to a little bit too much Asher Roth and reminiscing about my uni days (which are swiftly coming to an end) and decided what the hell. I was initially just writing it for a distraction and for the sake of just getting it out my head but hey-ho, here it is anyway. I understand Elena is a bit OOC and also that my knowledge of the American college system is lacking but just suspend your disbelief for me pretty please?_

_Let me know what you think of it!_

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><p><strong>So what we get drunk?<strong>

**So what we don't sleep?**

**We're just having fun**

**We don't care who sees**

**So what we go out?**

**That's how its supposed to be**

**Living young, wild and free**

It was three AM by the time Elena Gilbert stumbled out of the Mystic Falls town hall, down the steps of the grand building and into the warm interior of a waiting car. She left the back door open, leaning her head outside and waving to her blonde friend, Caroline Forbes, who had just separated herself from another mystery male and was phoning her own driver.

"Goodnight Caroline!" she called, throwing her friend a wink before shutting the door of the car. "You can go now." she snapped at the suited man in the front who simply nodded, doffed his hat silently and pulled away.

The only sound the entire way home was the creaking leather of her driver's gloves and the frantic tapping of her phone keypad as she carried on her conversation with Caroline through the means of technology. She smirked as her friend text her to alert her that she had arrived home, alone. That certainly made a change; she must not have liked the boy as much as Elena had thought.

"We're home, Miss Gilbert." Her driver's voice brought her attention back into the vehicle and she nodded as he twisted in his seat to look at her.

"Thank you, Charles." she replied dismissively. "I'll need taking into town tomorrow to the bank, around 9."

"Very good, Miss." he replied docilely. She nodded absently in reply, waiting impatiently for him to walk around the car and open her door. At almost seventy years of age Charles had been her driver for as long as she could remember, he had gone from taking her to pre-school and ballet lessons, to sleepovers at Caroline's to every event she was invited to, which was all of them. She rolled her eyes as he finally reached her door, the man wasn't as spritely as he used to be but she knew she wouldn't feel comfortable having anyone else drive her around.

She stepped out the car, gathering her heels from the backseat and tugging the back of her incredibly short dress down to step out of the car. As one of Mystic Falls most notable socialites exiting a car had become something of second nature to her and she had got the motion down to a tee now, showing just enough flesh but never quite causing a scandal. Although there were no photographers outside her home tonight there had been plenty at the event earlier, the main reason why she had returned to her home alone rather than with a male companion.

Charles followed her up the steps to the large steps of her imposing house. Tall, ostentatious pillars lined the steps to the entrance and she paused slightly as she heard the trickle of water from the features in the gardens round the back.

"Goodnight, Miss Gilbert." Charles doffed his hat again and crept around the side of the house, bent over slightly, towards the servant's wing. She walked into the reception hall and tossed her heels to the side of the door, someone would pick them up tomorrow.

"Jeremy?" she called out, tilting her head as she listened for sounds of her brother. Someone giggled and there was shuffling and a clinking of glasses. She frowned and walked to the left of the reception hall, knowing her way through the darkness. She flung open a door that revealed a large recreation room. Her brother was in the middle of the room playing pool while two girls sat on a sofa watching him. She rolled her eyes at the sight, recognising the girls from around town, not the type of people she would wish to spend time with, or for her brother to associate with.

"Hey sis!" He was drunk, wonderful. So was she, she admitted, but at least she had been out, he had stayed at home to drink with his trash from the wrong side of town and, by the smell of it, smoke weed as well.

"It stinks in here." she sneered, wrinkling her nose up in disgust and running her gaze over the two girls who were looking distinctly uncomfortable since she had entered.

"Well, that's what happens when you hot box the rec room." he replied lazily and she rolled her eyes.

"Wow, you are so cool." she snapped. She strode into the room and switched off the depressing stoner music that had been playing from the stereo. She turned to the girls and clicked her fingers at them hastily. "Out." she snapped, suddenly in no mood to mess around. The girls frowned but obliged, grabbing their things and heading to scurry out of the room. No doubt they had a long journey home, they certainly didn't live anywhere near there.

"Hey ladies don't go!" whined Jeremy, reaching a hand out to them, "don't mind my sister she's just got a permanent stick up her ass."

"Fuck you Jeremy." she spat out, preparing herself for another drunken fight. "Excuse me if I don't want my house populated by white trash." The girls had left the room now and she heard the front door slam as they exited the house.

Jeremy blew out a laugh and scoffed, "You know what? Fuck you too, Elena. You are such a stuck up snob."

"Oh yeah?" she shouted in his face, "Well this stuck up snob pays for your disgusting little weed habit so maybe you should keep that in mind before you invite people like _that _into my house."

"Since when was this _your_ house?" he screamed at her.

"Since I'm the oldest Jeremy, and I am sick and tired of you embarrassing us. You don't like it you can get out!"

"Well maybe I will." he retorted, no matter how many times they had this fight she knew he wouldn't. Jeremy was accustomed to a certain lifestyle, one that he could only afford with payouts from his sister's trust fund. Until he turned eighteen and could access his own he was stuck. "You know, you act like you're so perfect Elena, like you're the golden child. But look at you," he swung in his arm in her direction and gestured at her appearance. "You're just like all the other desperate little trust fund sluts around here, paying their way through life." She gritted her teeth and clenched her fist to stop herself from slapping him, the last time she had they hadn't spoken for weeks.

"Don't forget I'm paying for yours too." she reminded him darkly.

"I didn't ask you to." he ground out, clenching the pool cue in his hand so hard his knuckles were turning white.

"Yeah well that's the deal you get with the whole sibling thing Jer," She was tired of fighting already, "You don't get to opt in or out." She turned on her heel and went to leave the room before stopping and throwing him a look over her shoulder. "Open a fucking window in here." she said quietly before leaving the room.

She had no doubts that deep down Jeremy loved her just as much as she loved him. But money complicated things, he had to ask her for anything he wanted, he was completely and utterly dependent upon her. Although that had been acceptable at fourteen, he was now seventeen and had grown tired of it. It was a constant worry to her that he would get his trust fund at eighteen and she'd never see him again. She knew that the arguments didn't help matters but that was part of having a sibling, it was just that her and Jeremy's arguments were about money 99 percent of the time and money made things messy.

She hadn't really been aware of how rich her family was until her parents died when she fifteen and Jeremy was twelve. Her Aunt Jenna had been granted right of attorney and assigned to be their guardian, although as both of them attended prestigious boarding schools they did not require much guarding. When Jenna had been offered an opportunity to work out of state it had been agreed that while they were still at school they would remain under her guardianship, even from afar, however they would stay with her during holidays.

It was around her sixteenth birthday when she had been sat down by her Aunt and their personal finance manager, Alaric Saltzman, and informed that her parents had left her and her brother a small fortune. The trust funds would have initially been granted to them both upon their eighteenth birthdays, however with her parents sudden departure from the living world and their sudden independence from their guardian Jenna it was decided that Elena would receive hers two years early in order to provide for her and her brother. She had not had much use for it during her last two years of school however after her graduation from school she had returned home with Jeremy for the summer and had been allowed to fully appreciate the meaning of being an eighteen year old multi-millionaire.

In one summer, since her return from boarding school, she had established a name for herself amongst the rich founding families of Mystic Falls. Her and her family had certainly always been well known in the town but upon reaching adulthood it was now her duty to attend town events and represent the Gilberts. And represent she did, falling out of limos with handsome escorts at every single town event she could get to, perpetually accompanied by her best friend Caroline Forbes. The girls mutual wealth was what brought them together but their love of life and general disregard for the etiquette and propriety required for Mystic Falls' events was what cemented their friendship.

She had no discernible plans for the future, her parents death had been a huge factor in her 'life's too short' attitude and so she made every effort not to make plans, because a plan was, how had that song put it? A prayer to time, that there would be enough of it to execute it. For now, she had enough money and enough friends to do whatever the hell she liked, with very few consequences; and she was going to enjoy it for as long as was humanly possible. She had never imagined she would end up a rich socialite with no skills besides a high school diploma, largely granted because failing a student was unheard of at her school, however it was the cards she had been dealt, or rather the hand she had chosen to play and she was doing a good job of playing it well.

* * *

><p>The next day she arrived at the large Mystic Falls bank, she pushed her dark sunglasses onto her head, her scruffy hair messily tied back with little effort as her pounding head had prevented her doing anything more than putting on clothes. She still managed to look like she had just walked off a catwalk in her expensively simple white sundress and sky high wedges. She strolled across the bank's floor and waited for the elevator that would take her up to the floors where the finance managers worked.<p>

She strode in the direction of the corner office, not bothering to knock before swinging the door open. "Christ Ric, could you not have made this a little bit later?" she instantly whined at the man who had jumped out of his seat as she'd entered. "I only got to bed a few hours ago."

Alaric Saltzman straightened his tie and cleared his throat; he took in the sight of his youngest client and sighed. He liked to think that he wasn't just in charge of her finances, he was in charge of her welfare somewhat as well, and if her parents could see her now they would be less than impressed with the job he was doing. Her eyes were bloodshot and as she had breezed in she had wafted in the scent of alcohol with her as well, probably carried from the night before. Her too thin arms looked like they might snap under the weight of her oversized purse as it dangled off the crook of her elbow and the bags under her eyes suggested that this morning's early meeting was not the first disturbance to a good night's sleep she'd had that summer.

"Well I would have hoped that you would have had an early night considering the early hour of our meeting." he began calmly, knowing that to antagonise Elena when she was hungover was a colossally stupid idea. "You're also almost an hour late." he reminded her, pointing at his watch and tapping it.

She threw her purse down into one of the two leather seats in front of his desk before plonking herself down into the one next to it, crossing one of her long legs on top of the other. "Patience is a virtue and all that." She waved a hand dismissively and he moved back around to the other side of his desk and sat down. "So what's this all about?" she asked, jumping straight to the point.

"I wanted to talk to you about colleges." he stated, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his large glass desk and intertwining his fingers together.

"Ugh," she groaned, "are they asking for money again? Tell them no, Ric. I've already told you I'm not donating money so some nerd in a laboratory can do experiments on rabbits." she spat out angrily.

"No..." Alaric answered slowly, "I want to talk about what you're going to _do_ about college." he explained and she frowned. She shrugged her shoulders noncommittally.

"Haven't really thought about it." she answered truthfully, wondering why her finance manager had brought her here to discuss further education.

"Well I mean," he began nervously, "do you not think now would be a good time to start? Summer's almost over, Elena." he reminded her and she shrugged again, worrying him immensely.

"I'm not going to college, Ric." she stated simply, "What's the point? People go to college to get degrees, so they can get a job, to get money. It's a means to an end that I've already reached."

"While that is truly an _inspiring_ outlook on life at eighteen, the terms of your trust fund are clear Elena, you know that. So you should be, well you should have already, be thinking about colleges. Most people your age already know exactly where they're going." he stated.

"What terms?" she snapped angrily, it was far too early in the morning for his jargon.

He sighed and rubbed his temples wearily, "Your parents made it very clear in their will that your trust fund was subject to you attending college." he explained through gritted teeth.

"What!" she screamed, flying out of her seat to her feet and bearing down upon him. "You never told me that!" she pointed a finger at him angrily.

"Yes, I did, Elena." he insisted, remaining seated. "It's been explained to you on several occasions, that's why I'm only asking you about this now because I had made it fairly clear and I presumed that you were going to college in the fall.'

"What occasions?" she scoffed, persistent in her belief that she was right and had been told no such thing.

"I explained it to you when you received your trust fund, it was put in writing to you along with the rest of the agreement and I explained it to you months ago when you graduated." he continued, furious at her blatant disregard for her parent's wishes.

"I don't remember those things." she folded her arms across her chest and threw herself back into her seat. "You can't expect me to remember every single word that comes out of your mouth." she huffed, acting more like a child than ever.

"I apologise if the terms of you receiving millions of dollars are so boring to you Elena that you can't concentrate for five minutes to learn what you have to do to keep it." he snapped.

"So you're saying that if I don't go to college my trust fund gets cut off?" she asked and he nodded. Her face drained of colour and the enormity of the situation set in.

"Now it's _extremely_ late in the admissions process so you're limited on where would even take you at this point..." he began to explain, however she had leaned forward, her head in her hands and her elbows on her knees.

"I can't deal with this right now." she murmured and he was reminded of how young she really was.

"It's important Elena..." he tried to reassure her, "it was important to your mom and dad."

"I'm not smart, Ric!" she exclaimed, raising her head, her eyes full of tears. "What the hell am I supposed to do at college! College is for smart, worldly people. Here, I'm a big fish in a small pond but out there..." she swung her arm in the direction of the large window that overlooked the town, although he presumed she was talking about further afield, "I'm nothing."Her voice was practically a whisper.

"Look," he began, and moved around the side of his desk to crouch down in front of her, his hands resting on her knees. "I know this is all a bit much, but you _are_ smart Elena. Do you really want to spend your life in Mystic Falls getting drunk at town events?" he asked gently.

She snorted, "Well I can't exactly say yes since you painted such a pretty picture of it, can I?" she muttered sarcastically and he offered her a small smile. "Where would I go?" she asked quietly.

"Well," He raised himself up and perched on the edge of his desk, facing her. "Like I said most places have closed their admissions, but your mum and dad used to donate a lot of money to Colombia, it was their alma mater. I happen to have a buddy up there who works on admissions, I could give him a call and see what I can do." he offered, her head snapped up curiously.

"Colombia?" she questioned, "that's in New York right?" He nodded and she twisted her mouth as she thought. New York...that couldn't be so bad. It wasn't like she'd be moving to the middle of nowhere; there were plenty of things to do in New York and plenty of things to spend money on. But what would she even study? She wasn't particularly good at anything, she'd coasted through high school, never bothering to pay much interest in anything other than boys and partying. She was decidedly average at everything.

Apart from writing, she had always enjoyed that and it was something her mom had always encouraged her to do. If she thought carefully she was fairly sure that her mum's degree was in creative writing, it hung in her father's office, a room she never went in. She could maybe even get a job at a magazine; become the next Wintour or Roitfeld.

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><p>Three weeks later Elena climbed out of the back of her black sedan. She glanced up at the large, imposing red brick building, her stomach clenching nervously. A loud blare of a car horn jerked her out of her day dream and she turned to see an irate man in a yellow taxi gesticulating angrily at her and the car. Although it was late September the humid city air did little to alleviate the claustrophobia she had experienced after several hours sat in the back of a car. A small breeze blew round the corner and brushed the back of her bare legs and she was grateful to be wearing shorts. She pushed her expensive sunglasses onto the top of her head and squinted up at the building again and at the copious amounts of students scurrying around with bags and boxes.<p>

"Thank you, Charles." she said, turning to the older man who was stood by the door. "I'm sure someone will be down for my bags soon." As soon as she had said it a man came bounding down the stairs of the building, he had been seated amongst a group of people and had hopped up at the sight of her. He looked to be a couple of years older than her, his dark hair fell across his face as he jogged energetically down the steps so she wasn't able to see his face, however she couldn't help but admire his expensive looking tight black v-neck t-shirt and the way it emphasised every muscle on his biceps.

"Welcome to Morningside Heights!" he declared merrily, opening his arms out wide as if he was a realtor showing her around an apartment. He grinned boyishly and took in Elena's less than enthusiastic appearance. "Don't worry, I know they say New York's bad but I'm not here to steal your things, I promise." He raised his hands again before holding one out and offering it to her.

She shook it hesitantly, waiting for him to fully introduce himself; she cocked her head to the side in anticipation. "Sorry," he took the hint as he withdrew his hand and chuckled nervously, "I'm Damon, I'm helping to move the freshmen in. Need some help with your bags?"

He ducked past her and scooped a large Louis Vuitton duffel bag out of the trunk of her car, swinging it over his shoulder haphazardly.

"Careful!" she screeched, shooting an arm out to him and glancing across at Charles, panic written across her face. "That's-"

"Ridiculously expensive?" He laughed and hitched it higher on his shoulder, "I guessed that. Look at it this way, you pay this much for something you'd expect it to stand up to a bit of rough and tumble, right?" He ran his eyes over her body and smirked, swiftly raising his eyebrows up and down "Just like those short shorts."

"Excuse me?" She felt her mouth drop open as he chuckled and sauntered past her, throwing her a wink.

She huffed and crossed her arms across her chest before stomping her foot slightly and following him up the steps to the giant building.

As she entered the building he was stood at the bottom of a large stairwell conversing with a large group of girls, her bag sitting at his feet, a large sign pointed to her right and directed freshman into a large room where they were queuing.

"You need to go in there to get your key, come find me when you're done and I can take your stuff up." he yelled across to her, over the top of the girl's heads. She heard one of them giggle at something he said and she rolled her eyes and headed into the room. Almost twenty minutes later she was nearing the end of the queue as her phone rang in her pocket. From the offended and outraged glances she received you would think that phones had been made illegal in New York, however she answered it anyway, aware that everyone would now be listening in.

"Hey Care!" she answered brightly.

"Are you there yet? What's your room like? Have you met any cute boys?" jabbered her friend excitedly in one stream of speech.

"Woah! Calm down Caroline, I'm still waiting for my room key."

"Oh." she replied dejectedly, "well it sucks here already without you." Elena couldn't help the smirk that passed across her face. She reached the front of the queue and handed over her acceptance letter and confirmed her name, holding her phone to her shoulder whilst accepting the key the woman handed her. She worked her way back out into the hall and pulled the phone back to her ear.

"Have you seen Jeremy today?" she asked nervously. Out of all her worries, leaving Jeremy on his own in the house was her biggest.

"No," answered Caroline pensively, "Tyler had a barbeque at the falls earlier but I didn't see him, there's a lame tea party thing at Mrs Lockwood's later today I'll look out for him there." Elena sighed; he could be stoned out of his mind right now.

"Will you keep an eye on him for me?" she pleaded with her friend.

"I can try," answered Caroline, "but you know what you Gilbert's are like...pretty uncontrollable." Elena giggled and rolled her eyes.

"I have to go anyway and find the porter guy who has my things." she told Caroline, "love you!" she chirped and smiled at Caroline's identical response. She hung up the phone and looked around her hesitantly.

"I'm not a porter." She jumped as his voice came from behind her. She span around, her hand clutched to her chest.

"You scared me!" she squealed, breathing heavily. She looked behind him and saw more of her stuff piled up. He shrugged dismissively and pointed to her belongings.

"Grab what you can, what number are you?" She looked down at the key in her hand.

"365." she answered and he whistled under his breath.

"Oooh." he replied cheekily, "the party floor!" she rolled her eyes and stormed over to her belongings, grabbing a bag and tugging on the pull up handle aggressively.

They walked towards the crowded elevators in silence and waited for one to become free. They climbed into one as it arrived and she was slightly unnerved to see no one else climb in.

"Word to the wise," he began as soon as they began their ascension, "if you have to employ your friends to check up on your boyfriend, it won't last."

She shot him a frown, "What?" she snapped.

"I just heard you talking to your friend, that's all." he explained, "The whole long distance thing never really works, especially if you already don't trust him."

She scoffed, "Gee thanks for the advice sensei but I was actually talking about my little brother." He looked unaffected by his mistake and shrugged again.

"So...that means you _don't_ have a boyfriend?" he asked slowly and she scoffed in disgust.

"I never said that." she replied coyly, folding her arms. She was suddenly wishing she hadn't worn shorts as he ran his eyes over her again and she pressed herself into the corner of the elevator. Satisfied with his inspection of her he turned away and looked upwards at the increasing numbers on the elevator.

"I didn't get your name." he said suddenly, looking back across at her.

"Elena," she answered tersely. "Elena Gilbert."

"And where are you from, Elena Gilbert?" There was something inherently dirty about the way he said her name, making her shudder internally.

"Mystic Falls, Virginia."

"Huh, so you're pretty small town then?" His amused tone made her clench her jaw in frustration.

"I'm anything _but_ small town." she answered defiantly. He chuckled and shook his head.

"You may be big news in Mystic Falls Virginia, Elena Gilbert, but here in New York City, you're about as small town as they get."

"Oh yeah? And what would you know about that?" she snapped aggressively.

"I'm _from_ New York." he answered and shrugged his shoulders, presuming that it was a sufficient explanation.

"So what? You think you're the Van Wilder of Colombia or something?" she asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm. He let out a short laugh.

"I've never heard it described as that but yeah, I guess maybe I am." She rolled her eyes tiredly; she had had enough of this guy already. The elevator pinged, relieving her from the conversation and she practically shoved him out the way to get out of the enclosed space. He followed her along the corridor as she glanced at each room number and then back at her key before stopping outside a room. 365. She could hear music playing inside and she frowned as she let herself in.

"This isn't-"

"Hi roomie!" A dark skinned girl with curly brown hair threw herself in her direction, wrapping her arms around Elena excitedly. "I'm Bonnie!" she announced enthusiastically. Elena glanced past her into the room and saw the two single beds on opposite sides of the dorm.

"This is a dorm room." she stated with dread.

"Uh...yeah..." answered Bonnie hesitantly, before glancing at the piles of expensive luggage her roommate had brought with her.

"I requested a private room." She had not moved from the doorway, adamant that if she did it would be signing some binding contract in which she had to stay here.

"Yeah well, you don't always get what you want do you?" quipped Damon from behind her before pushing past her and heaving her bag into the room. "Hi Bonnie, I'm Damon." he said smoothly, holding out his hand and shaking hers, smirking at the blush that spread across her cheeks.

"H-Hi." stuttered Bonnie, glancing between her roommate, the designer luggage and her gorgeous escort. Who was this girl!

He finished moving the rest of her stuff into the room, manoeuvring himself around her as she stood awkwardly in the doorway, glued to the same spot. After he had finished with the last of her stuff he clapped his hands against his jeans, rubbing them down.

"Well Bonnie it was lovely to meet you." he smiled at her, causing her to blush again. "Enjoy yourself Elena," he said, turning to her and smirking. "And uh...listen there's a party going on at the Pike house tonight, its normally pretty exclusive but you strike me as an exclusive kind of girl so..." She rolled her eyes in disgust.

"Thanks, I'll think about it if nothing better comes along." she spat out, wanting nothing less than to spend more time in his company.

"Trust me, it won't." he told her, "Freshmen aren't normally allowed so you'll need this to get in," he tugged on a ring that she hadn't noticed he was wearing and held it out to her. She turned her nose up in disgust at the gaudy gold and burgundy piece of jewellery. What kind of guy wore rings?

"Why would I need _this_?" she asked, taking it reluctantly from his hand, her cynicism displayed across her face as she turned it in her fingers.

"It's the president's ring," he explained, slightly disappointed by her reaction, "It'll get you in if you decide to come."

He turned to leave as she glanced down with disdain at the ugly ring. "Oh..." he said, pausing in her doorway, "and I'll be needing that back. Don't forget, I know where you live."

He threw her a smirk and flicked two fingers across his forehead in a salute before leaving the two girls.

"Is that your boyfriend?" squealed Bonnie incredulously. Elena groaned, her face wrinkled in disgust.

"Ew no." she snapped. She sighed, immediately regretting being so harsh towards the girl, she didn't want people to hate her before they even knew her; there would be plenty of time for that. She made her way over to her bed and dragged one of her suitcases onto it to start unpacking.

"So you're like...rich huh?" Bonnie's voice spoke from behind her and Elena smiled slightly. She turned around and sat on her bed, facing her new roommate.

"I guess so." She shrugged, she knew so but it sounded arrogant even by her standards to admit it so blatantly. Bonnie didn't seem to have a reply to it and instead mirrored Elena's movements and sat on the bed opposite. She had already obviously unpacked most of her stuff and Elena glanced at the books that lined the small shelving unit above her bed.

"What are you studying?" Elena suddenly thought to ask her.

"Creative writing." she answered brightly, clasping her hands together and resting them on her lap, "Specifically in poetry." Elena's eyes widened in surprise, "How about you?"

"The same actually, except in fiction." Bonnie nodded pensively and silence fell between the two girls.

"So are you gunna go to that party?" Bonnie asked, Elena sighed and shrugged.

"Probably not." she answered truthfully, the idea of spending an evening with her new acquaintance did not really appeal. Sure, he was good looking but she knew plenty of good looking people who didn't repulse her.

"Why not?" squealed Bonnie excitedly, "Pike parties are like, the crème de la crème of frat parties, what he said was true, freshmen _never_ get invited at the start of the year."

Elena frowned in contemplation; it couldn't hurt her reputation to show up at the most sought after party at Colombia on her first night. She glanced across at Bonnie and looked her up and down. The girl was pretty, that was for sure and she had an energetic vibe to her that Elena liked. With a bit of work she could be exactly the kind of person she would hang around with, minus the money of course.

"Well..." she did her best attempt to make it sound like she hadn't already made up her mind, "if I did go, would you come with me? I'm certainly not going on my own!"

The scream of delight from her new roommate served as confirmation enough.

* * *

><p>As they entered into the frat house Elena tucked the thin silver chain back into her shirt, shielding it from any prying eyes. She was wearing a different pair of shorts now, still as dangerously short as the last pair and a baggy white silk shirt tucked into them. Not wanting to look like she'd put too much effort in. She glanced around her and heard Bonnie gasp in awe beside her. The house was huge from the outside but slightly smaller than she had anticipated on the inside. This led to the smaller space being crammed with a heaving mass of bodies. At the side lines of the large group of chattering and drinking students were smaller clusters of people and Elena's eyes flicked over to a particularly rowdy group, her eyes flitting approvingly over the figure of a tall blonde boy who seemed to be gaining a lot of attention.<p>

"So you deigned to honour us with your presence then?" She fortunately suppressed the small squeal of surprise that almost escaped her as the deep velvety voice of Damon Salvatore came from behind her. She turned on her heel and raised an eyebrow, running her eyes over his attire in the same way he had done to her earlier.

"Apparently this place is a big deal or something." Bonnie smirked beside her, the pair doing their very best to look as nonchalant as possible.

Elena cocked her head to the side and rolled her eyes as she recognised the next song begin blaring loudly from the huge speaker system in the corner. "Asher Roth, really? You know it's not widely regarded as being cool to fit a stereotype, right frat boy?" she scoffed as the rapper continued on about weed and beer.

He shrugged and hooked his thumbs into the pockets of his jeans. "What can I say, I enjoy being predictable." he quipped. He suddenly seemed to have remembered something and raised a finger before opening his palm in her direction. "Ring, please." he drawled seductively.

She smiled sweetly, "I don't have it."

"Yeah, sure you don't. Give it back." he snapped, bending his fingers and beckoning for her to hand it to him. "You can't have got in here without it."

"Well I did, I must look more important than you think."

"You certainly think you're more important than you actually are." She shrugged, not moving an inch and staring down at his open hand impassively. "Just hand it over, Elena." He was beginning to sound more irritated by the second and a smile twitched at the corners of her mouth, delighted that she had annoyed him as much as he had done to her earlier.

"I don't have it!" she sang childishly and she saw him clench his jaw. She raised her hands and wiggled her fingers in his face. "See?"

"Hey baby!" A tall girl with short brown hair came skipping over from behind Damon and threw her arms around him, craning her head over his shoulder to plant a kiss on his cheek. She continued to grip him possessively as her eyes skimmed over Elena and Bonnie and then back to Damon, his hand still held out.

"Hey Rose." he ground out distractedly, unhooking himself from her grasp and focussing his attention back to Elena. He was about to open his mouth again to warn her about what he would do to her if he didn't get his ring but Rose interrupted him.

"I'm sorry," she began, her voice sounding completely unapologetic, "freshmen aren't allowed at this party." She threw them a smirk, expecting to scurry away however Elena simply laughed gently.

"I know!" she gushed with mock enthusiasm, "It was super nice of Damon to invite us." She smiled sweetly at him and glanced across at Bonnie who was looking decidedly sheepish.

"Damon invited you?" her voice dropped menacingly. She looked across at Damon, her face full of disbelief before it dropped. "Nice try, I've never seen you before which means he doesn't know you. So you can leave now, bye!" She waved shortly.

"Damon!" cried Elena amusedly, affectionately punching him on the arm, "I can't believe you never mentioned me before!" Elena rolled her eyes dramatically, "he is _so_ forgetful, me and Damon go way back." she explained.

"Oh really?" asked Rose sarcastically.

"Yeah, I even have his ring, see?" She hooked her fingers through the thin silver chain around her neck and pulled it from under her shirt. She clutched the ring between her thumb and forefinger and flashed it to Rose victoriously. "Thanks buddy!" She grinned at Damon whose eyes had narrowed at the sight of his ring around her neck. "I'll hold onto this for safe keeping. Great party!" She reached for Bonnie's hand and skipped away gleefully, slipping the long chain back under her blouse.

"Oh my God I can't believe you just did that!" shrieked Bonnie, bursting into fits of giggles as soon as they reached the other side of the room. "Did you see her face?" They both giggled loudly and headed for the drinks table.

Elena reached for a plastic cup and passed one to Bonnie before grabbing one for herself and turning to the keg that sat next to the drinks table. She raised an eyebrow and turned to Bonnie inquisitively.

"Any ideas?" she asked, looking at the large steel can with trepidation.

"Nope." stated Bonnie, "I thought you were supposed to be the party girl?" she quipped and smirked.

"They don't tend to have kegs at the parties I go to, more like silver service and champagne." Bonnie whistled under her breath and shook her head wryly.

"Well that's not gunna really help us out here."

"Need a hand, ladies?" The blonde guy that she had spotted earlier had made his way over to the table. He had a welcoming smile plastered across his face and his blue eyes lit up as he reached them. He took Elena's cup from her hand and filled it for her before passing it back with a wink.

"T-Thanks." she stuttered, inwardly chiding herself. This wasn't the first college guy she'd ever spoken to so why was she acting like this?

"You're welcome." He accepted Bonnie's cup but kept his eyes planted on Elena. "I'm Matt, by the way." He handed Bonnie's cup back to her before filling his own, placing his free hand on his chest in introduction. "And you lovely ladies are?"

As Elena seemed to have lost the gift of speech Bonnie stepped. "I'm Bonnie, this is my roommate Elena."

"Well it's nice to meet you two!" His voice had a warm, southern sound to it and Elena found herself smiling at nothing in particular as he spoke. "You two ladies wouldn't happen to know anything about a pair of rogue freshmen who got in would you?" he asked mischievously, glancing between the pair as they both tried not to look guilty. "Relax girls," he finally said as he chuckled at their worried faces, "I'm not gunna tell on you don't worry."

They both visibly breathed a sigh of relief. "Why wouldn't you throw us out?" asked Bonnie, "Seems like everyone around here hates freshmen."

He laughed loudly, "We don't hate 'em, I don't honestly know what's up with the stupid rule but...I'm only a lowly vice president, I don't make the rules I just keep them."

"Well you're certainly doing a good job of enforcing them" Elena finally managed to speak, the few gulps of beer she'd had boosting her confidence. He laughed again and nodded wistfully.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. That's probably why I'm not president, if I had it my way everyone would be invited."

"And we'd all embrace free love and hug trees, right?" Damon's snide voice echoed from behind Matt and he smirked before clapping his friend on his shoulder. "I see you found our stowaways." Matt nodded eagerly. Damon looked over to Elena, his eyes running over her shirt momentarily and noticing the slight bump underneath the material right between her...

"You done?" She crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow at him defiantly.

"Hey man, where's Rose?" asked Matt lightly, sensing the rising tension.

Damon shrugged, "Hell if I know." he muttered.

"She just seems attached to your hip these days that's all." he continued but stopped as Damon shot him a look. The pair had been best friends for so long that all they needed to communicate effectively was the odd look and gesture and they understood each other perfectly.

"This is Matt, by the way." he draped his arm around his friends shoulder playfully, "Matt this is-"

"Bonnie and Elena." Matt pointed at them each in turn, throwing Elena another wink. "Got it."

"I'm just gunna borrow Elena for a sec..." Damon latched onto her arm and pulled her towards him, she opened her mouth to protest but he threw her a look and she quickly downed her drink as he pulled her away from her roommate. "We'll be right back." He frog marched her away from the pair, down a corridor and into a large bedroom.

* * *

><p>Elena looked around the room appreciatively, she observed the dark decor, her eyes flitting over the black silk sheets haphazardly tossed across the bed. She folded her arms, her eyes still travelling around the room before her line of sight was blocked.<p>

"I want my ring back." ground out Damon, fixing her with a stare that she supposed would make most girls weak at the knees.

"Well you're gunna have to take it from me, I'll bet I could have all kinds of fun with the frat president's ring." she challenged, her arms pressed firmly across her chest, the ring digging into her sternum.

He quickly dove forwards and attempted to move his hands past her arms however she swiftly slapped his hand away and smirked, chuckling under her breath. "Ah-ah-ah!" she chided, wagging a finger in his face. "You can look but you can't touch."

He growled menacingly and she rolled her eyes. This girl was infuriating.

"Look," He took a step towards her and she did her best not to take one back, holding her ground. "You may just be the hottest girl here but trust me the _only_ thing I wanted from you at this party was another notch in my bedpost. But now I just want my ring back and you outta here, because frankly you're a little too irritating and self-important for my liking."

"Why?" she chirped, "Do I remind you too much of yourself?" she raised an eyebrow at him, ignoring the fact that his words hurt a lot more than she'd like to admit. "You know what Damon?" He ran a hand through his hair and breathed a frustrated sigh.

"What, Elena?" he snapped.

"I'll let you in on a lesson I learned very recently." she stepped towards him, closing the gap between them until her folded arms were pressed against his chest. She loosened her arms; he would be unable to get a hand in between them now anyway and reached up to pat his cheek patronisingly. "You don't always get what you want."

She swivelled on her heel and left the room, rejoining the party and quickly refilling her drink once she found Bonnie, before dragging her towards the crush of bodies in the middle of the room to dance.

* * *

><p>Damon entered the frat house the next morning and slipped his shirt off over his head. His early morning run had alleviated a lot of his frustration, although not all of it. He tossed the shirt onto the back of a sofa and looked around at the general scene of destruction that had befallen on his house. He ran a hand through his hair and prayed that they didn't get an inspection anytime that day. He would round up the troops in an hour and recruit them to clean the place from top to bottom. He glanced down at his watch, maybe make that two hours he considered, given the early hour.<p>

He traipsed into the kitchen and collected a bottle of water from the fridge and leaned his back against the centre counter, easing a crick out of his neck. He heard a door open and recognised it as coming from the hallway in which his room resided along with one other room. He frowned to himself; it was unusual for Matt to rise so early, especially when he'd been as drunk as he was last night.

"I didn't think we'd be seeing you until way past midday." he quipped and turned around to see the frozen figure in the middle of the room. He raised an eyebrow at the brunette and was pleased she had the manners to blush. She was wearing an oversized hoody that covered the shorts she had been wearing the night before and her hair was thoroughly dishevelled. "Good morning." he greeted her jovially.

"Morning." she grumbled, looking anywhere but him.

"Good night?" he asked, smirking at her embarrassment.

"I've had better." she shrugged, regaining some of her confidence.

"Are we talking about my party or my best friend?" He ignored the voice in his head that told him he had absolutely no desire to hear about her night with Matt. He wasn't even sure how they had ended up together, the last he had seen of her she was heavily inebriated, dancing with her roommate. He'd presumed they had left when the party started winding down.

"A bit of both." she retorted and headed for the door, picking her way through the mess carefully as she had her heels dangling from her hand.

She reached the door and turned around to find him still watching her. He raised his eyebrows in question and she reached inside the hoody she was wearing. "Here." she snagged the chain from her around her neck and tossed it to him. "Looks like I can have fun without it."

He caught it expertly between his hands, letting the chain dangle between his fingers. It was warm from where it had been against her skin all night and he gulped nervously. By the time he looked back up she was gone. He shook his head wryly before slipping the ring off the chain and back onto his finger and trying to rid his thoughts of the way her legs looked under his best friend's hoody.

* * *

><p><em>So...yeah...<em>

_The ring he wears is basically the same ring as always except just different colours...that is all I have to say._

_Please review :)_


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